Remember when I posted about the five compositional rules? Well one of my favorite from that list is framing! I use framing A LOT by shooting through leaves and branches, doorways, crib bars and anything else I can find. Today I’m just going to focus on my favorite photography framing technique: framing with foliage.
WHY & HOW
I love framing because it leads my viewers’ eyes straight to my beautiful subject. It makes the photo much more interesting and also adds so much dimension to the picture. The foliage in the foreground adds depth and interest. To use foreground foliage for framing, all you have to do is get the leaves or branches between you and your subject.
- Get your subjects in/under the tree or as close to it as possible so the branches are framing them.
- Make sure your focus is on the subject.
- Create depth of field by one or all of the following:
- use a large aperture (small f/number)
- a long lens (biggest mm number)
- increase the distance between the foliage and your subject.
- decrease the distance between you and the foliage.
SHOOTING THROUGH STUFF + LENS LENGTH
Lens length makes a huge difference when you’re shooting through “stuff” in the foreground. The longer the lens, the softer the look.
Top Left:50mm • Top Right:35mm • Bottom Left & Right:70-200mm at 110mm
PIN IT
Kylee started Kylee Ann Photography 9 years ago, and has since grown from a one woman amateur show to a full associate team. We shoot 50-75 weddings a year, and thrive on kindness and service. After a year of teaching Intro to Photography at the local technical college, she discovered that helping other entrepreneurs create thriving businesses is what fires her up! She hosts semi-annual Kylee Ann Sleepovers all over the US, speak at conferences and teach online courses about running a small business and marketing.
January 14, 2016
Kylee Maughan
